There’s no end in sight as 49ers spiral downward

CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 04: Jeremy Kerley #17 of the San Francisco 49ers drops a pass against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 4, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the 49ers 26-6. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 04: Jeremy Kerley #17 of the San Francisco...

It was appropriately dark at the 49ers’ headquarters Monday, after the bleakest point in franchise history.

Chip Kelly was in New Hampshire for the funeral of his father, Paul. The players had the day off. The acting owner, Jed York, and the real owner, his mother Denise DeBartolo York, weren’t available for explanations or soul-searching. Neither was general manager Trent Baalke.

The 49ers are 1-11, mired in a franchise-worst losing streak. They lost Sunday to one of the few teams that they theoretically should have been able to beat. And they appear to be remarkably placid about it all. Last week on the radio, former tight end Brent Jones all but begged someone to show emotion, get angry.

This is perhaps the most remarkable thing about the free fall of a once-honorable franchise: No one seems to really care.

Check that: The fans care. They are horrified, furious, repelled.

But none of their anger is reflected at them from the organization into which they’ve invested their hearts — and in some cases, their retirement savings. Their fury isn’t replicated by those in uniform or in the team offices, and it’s not merely the older fans who can imagine how Jones and Ronnie Lott and Steve Young would respond to this pathetic display. It’s the newer fans who can recall how Frank Gore or Justin Smith or Patrick Willis would react.

The 49ers have gutted their roster, their reputation and their soul.

The Yorks, as usual, have been in hiding as the team crumbles. Baalke does a weekly radio show with his softball-throwing pal in which he claims to feel sorry for the fans and for ownership, takes full responsibility, and praises opposing players whom he just happened to overlook in drafts. Chat again next week!

Kelly is struggling with a difficult personal issue, and condolences go to him. He coached Sunday despite his father’s death two days earlier. He will be returning to a grim situation, particularly after one of the worst offensive displays in the 70-year history of the 49ers’ franchise.

Kelly’s play-calling Sunday was strange, one-dimensional, lacking any type of dynamism. Yes, it was snowing. But teams know how to play in the snow.

And Kelly’s decision to spend a week in Florida prepping for a game that was going to be played in a sub-freezing, snowy climate seemed strange. It obviously didn’t get the team ready to play. And if there was any type of team bonding that occurred, it wasn’t obvious from what we saw on the field. The 49ers played like a collection of players who couldn’t wait to get away from each other.

Now, we have to wonder whether the progress at quarterback that was such a big talking point last week has been undone. Kelly benched Colin Kaepernick, who threw for 4 (4!) yards and was sacked five times.

The benching, in favor of Blaine Gabbert, came a few hours after NFL Network reported that Kaepernick will opt out of his restructured contract and become a free agent after the season. And that development came after we learned that Kaepernick was selling his San Jose home and had bought a $3 million condo in Manhattan.

Despite conspiracy theories on Twitter, it’s highly unlikely that Kelly would bench a quarterback because of front-office politics or desires. Kelly said he simply thought the team needed something else, so he made the switch. Even if that something was Gabbert, benched himself just a few weeks ago.

Whatever coach-quarterback relationship had grown between Kaepernick and Kelly doesn’t seem solid now. Whatever progress Kaepernick made may have simply been an illusion.

Raise your hand if you’re sick of talking about Kaepernick, his future, his development. The topic feels like a dog chasing its tail, around and around and invariably ending in the same spot.

There are four games left in the season, less than a month until it mercifully comes to an end. Probably only then will we learn ownership’s plan going forward. Who will be fired. Who will stay. What can be salvaged, if anything.

And we’re left with an image from Sunday that perfectly sums up the 49ers’ current state: a team unable to handle the snow, desperate for any type of offense, mistakenly thinking it scored, making snow angels to celebrate the phantom score and earning a penalty to take it out of touchdown range.

In other words: a team, a franchise, an organization that is completely without a clue. Bumbling in the dark.

Larry Roberts, a two-time Super Bowl winner and a member of the 49ers’ famed draft class of 1986, died Monday at the age of 53.

“He was about as tough a football player as you could find,” said his former teammate, linebacker Keena Turner, now the team vice president of football affairs. ”He was a guy that was always going to line up and play hurt and be there for his teammates. It’s a big loss.”

Mr. Roberts, a native of Dothan, Ala., who played defensive end for the 49ers from 1986 through ’93, had been in ill health. In February, USA Today detailed his struggles with diabetes, which led to the amputation of both legs. Ex-teammate Ronnie Lott established a fund to provide financial assistance to Mr. Roberts and stayed in touch, talking with Mr. Roberts about Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV.

“No one liked to go against Larry because he was such a hard hitter,” said guard Guy McIntyre, another teammate. “When we went to play an actual game, many times I said my hardest game was during the week because we had guys like Larry who just practiced hard all the time.”

In 1986, Bill Walsh drafted what is considered one of the best classes in NFL history: Mr. Roberts, Tom Rathman, Tim McKyer, John Taylor, Charles Haley, Steve Wallace, Kevin Fagan and Don Griffin, all of whom became Super Bowl starters and none of whom was a first-round pick.